Research spending pays off for Pfizer

Article Excerpt

PFIZER INC. $34 (New York symbol PFE; Income Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 6.0 billion; Market cap: $204.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.8; Dividend yield: 3.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.pfizer.com) is one of the world’s leading prescription drugmakers. Its top-selling brands include Lyrica (epilepsy), Celebrex (arthritis pain), Prevnar (pneumonia) and Enbrel (rheumatoid arthritis). The company is also a leading maker of over-the-counter treatments, including Advil (pain relief), Centrum (vitamins) and Robitussin (cough syrup). Pfizer’s revenue fell 17.2%, from $59.0 billion in 2011 to $48.9 billion in 2015. That decline was mainly due to the sale of its nutrition division, which makes formula and other products for children. As well, the company continues to face more competition from generic drugs as many of its main products lose their patent protection. New businesses help replace older drugs To counter that, the company continues to buy smaller drugmakers with promising products. In September 2015, it paid $17 billion for Hospira. It makes close copies of…